Cross-kitted 1/48 scale Messerschmitt
Me 262A-2a/U2

by Carmel Zammit

Tamiya's 1/48 scale Messerschmitt Me 262A-2a is available online from Squadron

This project started as talk between myself and a few pals. Then, one day whilst chatting in Hannants Colindale, Steve Smith, a good friend and fanatical Me 262 lover, walked in with three Me 262 kits - 1 x Tamiya Clear kit, 1 x Tamiya bomber kit and 1 x Dragon glass nose bomber.

Steve looked at me and said, "Stop talking about it and get on with it!"

While trying to wriggle out of this seemingly impossible task, Gary Linsdell (Hannants shop manager) decided to cut the front end off the extremely rare Dragon kit and declared, "There is no excuse now!"

Construction began with marrying up the already cut kit parts. They were a surprisingly a good fit, allowing the Dragon parts to fit to the Tamiya parts without major grief. The rest of the airframe was pretty much all Tamiya so no need to elaborate there.

When the airframe was together it was time to fit the glazings. The front glazing for the bombardier simply did not fit. I overcame this by holding the front end together & clamping with tape & gluing the glazing on with superglue(honestly).

Spraying the plane was done with Xtracolor enamels RLM81 RLM82 OVER76 & decals were a combination of Dragon & Aeromaster.

Now I can reveal the need for the Tamiya clear kit - it has an engine.

The original kit parts were cut to accommodate the engine which actually clicks into place. The engine itself is great needing only wiring as all the various bits seem to be in place. The wiring was done by Mick Pitts whose patience is beyond compare. Mick brought the engine to my house fully wired but not painted (cheers Mick but you could have painted it).

I sprayed the engine with different shades of Alclad,the wires were picked out with Humbrol enamels after a wash of diluted ink.

The finishing touches seemed never ending -  taking off all the masking tape, adding the wheels (Cutting Edge resin parts) etc.

The results of this project far outweighed all the frustrating times, however it certainly is not the kind of task that one would recommend to all modellers.

I was very pleased with the end result and I am happy to have this Messerschmitt Me 262 in my collection.

I would like to thank Big Steve for his enthusiasm not to mention supplying the kits.

 

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

German Jet Aces of World War 2 Aircraft of the Aces 17 Author: Hugh Morgan, John Weal Illustrator: John Weal US Price: $19.95 UK Price: £2.99 Publisher: Osprey Publishing Publish Date:  January 15, 1998 Details: 100 pages; ISBN: 1855326345 Shop Buy it from Osprey Publishing

Images and Text Copyright © 2005 by Carmel Zammit
Page Created 05 July, 2005
Last Updated 05 July, 2005

Back to HyperScale Main Page